Scary

Undead

I was going to post a short bucolic piece on the therapeutic pleasures of horse riding but got badly hijacked by Drudge and the ongoing scary saga of the Middle East. Will it all result in a new dawn of peace, love and freedom, like a big Woodstock in the sand? 

Freeloading Hippies

 Or will it be a disaster of epic, apocalyptic proportions?

Age of Aquarius

I'd say the vote was out. 

Lord have mercy.

LSP

Ice Age Eschaton - Pistol

Getting Warmer

Everyone knows that it's much warmer now, which is why it's colder, especially in Dallas, where I was stranded for a couple of days by the New Ice Age. And to think, all brought about by the planet getting hotter, but such is the logic of the Eschaton. But I'm not complaining, it was good to retreat to the Ice Cave and take a few days off.

GH Getting Colder

Then, I suppose, it got colder so everything melted and I made it back to the country and a visit to GH's farm. We took his new Dodge down-field to an impromptu hay-bale pistol range and had some .45 ACP fun (remedial for me).

Berretta

I have to say, thank God for Winchester White Box, which takes a bit of the financial sting out of a shoot - I find I have to go through several magazines before getting into the swing of things and decently on target. I tend to pull the trigger, sending rounds low left and forget to breath, thanks to excitement. Bad errors, but when corrected things swung pretty neatly onto the bull.

Calm Before the Storm

Shot from around 15 and 20 yards, with the best results from 20, oddly enough. Then it was back to GH's house to talk about the state of the Mission and TEC's iniquitous land-grab. A good day.


Now the clouds are lowering with ice and snow. Smart people are honing up on their firearms skills and stockpiling. We don't know how long the winter will last.


Shoot straight,


LSP

Vicarious Hunting

GWB's new dog, Jeb & ducks

One of the reasons there hasn't been any hunting posts on this blog for far too long is that I haven't been out hunting. Riding? Yes. Shooting? Yes, but not as much as I'd like, mostly .22 plinking, to be honest.

But I can live vicariously through my linguistic philosopher friend GWB, who made good use of duck season to get out in the field with his new dog Jeb and a cheap but cheerful Mossberg 12 pump action ($150 from Academy).

Good duck result, GWB! Inspired now to get out and hunt once the weather clears.

Speaking of hunting, check out Whitetail Woods - Rick's excellent blog.

Written from the Ice Cave,

LSP

Retreat

St. Francis Xavier

Just back from our diocesan clergy retreat at a Jesuit house on Lake Dallas. There was no liturgical dance, frightening Clown Masses, or bad craziness of any sort. There was a statue of St. Francis Xavier, which I liked and a neat sunrise or two - uplifted the spirits unlike...

Sun over the Chapel

the neo-brutalist architecture of parts of the retreat house, but that tends to go with the territory and was more than compensated for by the tranquility of the place.

The Halls of Rome

Even managed to get some reading in, "The 'West', Islam and Islamism", by Caroline Cox and John Marks. They pose the question, "Is ideological Islam compatible with liberal democracy?" and answer that it isn't. Read the book if you can, it's short and clear, not least about 'abrogation' and the "Verse of the Sword" in the 9th Sura.

Say no to dhimmitude,

LSP

Oh Dear.

Diocese of London

A UK member of the LSP research team managed to take some time off from Kandahar to send in this curious tale, from London's Evening Standard. Here's a quote:

"The Rev David Gilmore, rector of St Anne's Anglican Church in Soho, was removed from office a week before Christmas after church authorities received complaints.

Mr Gilmore, 40, who is gay, agreed to let two members of the Armed Forces stay at the rectory after a servicemen's gay rights conference in December 2009. The 30-year-old RAF member and a sailor aged 20, referred to as A and B, claimed Mr Gilmore plied them with wine and engaged in 'lurid' conversations, including details of his sexual conquests. They told the panel he made it clear they 'were not the first people he had tried to sexually lure, that he had never had a sailor before but soldiers were fun, and that he offered B to come and sleep with him in his bed'". 

But that wasn't the problem. No. It was Gilmore visiting the 'guestroom' the next morning without any clothes on. That did it for the mysterious 'A and B' who went to 'church authorities' in the diocese of London.

You just couldn't make this stuff up, except perhaps, sadly, you could.

LSP

Horse & Mud

Posh as you like Walmart boots

Finally, after about a month of rib-agony, I felt up for a ride. The weather was terrible, sleetish rain, biting wind and no lack of mud. Not dissimilar, I suppose, to Wales, or the Somme, or basic training at some training ground deemed suitably 'character building.' But the horses didn't mind, they had great fun bucking about in the mud...

Trip & BeBop playing in the mud

And I had a good, though short ride. JB was pretty skittish and I wasn't about to tempt fate and grievous bodily harm, so we walked about in an arena practicing turns and circles. Felt good to be back in the saddle, even at a slow pace and perhaps that's wise - doesn't hurt to walk before you run, or something like that.

Stay on the horse and well away from liturgical dance.

Cheers,

LSP

Church Builders

PCUSA Assembly 

Once upon a time the Presbyterian Church was a grim, Calvinist, 'ban Christmas, support Cromwell' sort of affair. But that was then and this now, with interpretive liturgical dance being the order of the day.

PCUSA, North America's largest Presbyterian body, has suffered a 2 million member decline since 1965, with a 63,027 member loss in 2009 alone. The average age of PCUSAns is 61, evidently. 

Perhaps liturgical dance will reverse such disturbing trends.

More anon - on guns and horses.

Cheers,

LSP

Bishops! Pt. II

 Shaw up to some skulduggery at St. Andrewes

The TEC Bishop of Massachusetts is a 'monk', a member of the Society of St. John the Evangelist (SSJE). He says he's a 'conservative' and, 'That's all I am, a sign of unity of the whole church.' That's why he married two high-ranking lesbian clergypersons in his Boston cathedral on New Years day. The Revs Mally Loyd and Katherine 'abortion is a blessing' Ragsdale.

 Mothership

Here's a picture of Ragsdale, in scary space creature 'campaign mode'. 

Top off-world antics, Bishop. Seven Alien Heads.

Congrats.

LSP

Calgary

Ventured into the frozen wilds of the North to visit with family in Calgary over the New Year; neat views over downtown in a 'skyscraper on the edge of the world' kind of way. The city has an efficient light rail service, complete with futuristic platforms...

 Well Done, Light Rail

and a new building called 'The Bow', which rises above the place like a giga-NSDAP ministry on steroids. The cranes on the top of the thing give an idea of scale.

 Triumph of the Will

After a couple of days the weather cleared and the sun glinted off a light dusting of high altitude global warming. I found it beautiful but then again I don't have to live with the stuff; what a fierce climate - respect to the people who pioneered the place. Made of stern stuff.

Warming

Back in Texas now, which is, of course, great but I'd recommend Calgary. The city is booming thanks to oil and gas, the people are friendly, there's a 'High Street' with pubs - result - and plenty of decent places to eat. The Rockies are near too, if you've a mind to go ice-climbing/skiing/snowboarding and during the summer there's no shortage of rodeo amusement.


There are drawbacks - the place is expensive, but you'd expect that from a boom town. Visit if you can, it's a singular city.


Happy late New Year & Epiphany,


LSP

Merry Christmas!

Beautiful Vigil Masses at the Missions then a scarifyin' drive to Dallas, where had turned in for the night. So I took advantage of the lull to watch a program about an alien base at Dulce; curious.

Regardless of the impending "disclosure event", here's an interesting, if slightly somber thought:

"When the unstoppable bullet hits the impenetrable wall, we find the religious experience. It is precisely here that one will grow... Heroism could be redefined for our time as the ability to stand paradox."

Robert Johnson wrote that, I found it on the Shirt of Flame blog.

Mind those bullets!

Merry Christmas!

LSP

Pistol

S&W .38 Spl

Wasn't able to ride this morning owing to a nasty case of bruised ribs but took the .38 out for a spin. Shot at 10 and 20 yards against an aggressive square of white paper and it's larger ally, a feed sack.

Did better at the longer range, oddly, then switched over to .22 to do deadly work among assorted cans and a hard to see cigarette box on a stick.

Where's the Target?

I love shooting and today reminded me that pistols are especially enjoyable. Why? Well, they certainly bring the explosive action up close, and I like that because it's exciting. They're also neat in themselves, as firearms - then again, I'm sympathetic to that. Not allowed to own them in England, unless you're a bad guy and have one anyway.

That reminds me of some man in a pub years ago who kept poking me in the ribs, saying:

Some Man: I've gotta '9'.
LSP: Pardon?
Some Man: I've gotta '9'!
LSP: Excuse me?
Some Man (poking vigorously): A '9', a '9'!!
LSP: Ah, a '9'. I'd like a pint of Stella, please, barman.

The '9' holder ran out of steam, fortunately; perhaps the fabled '9' was fictional.

Cheers,

LSP

The Eclipse and the Witch

My rubbish picture of the eclipse

For the first time in 372 years a total eclipse of the moon coincided with the Winter Solstice. Not only that but evidently the sun, moon and earth were in alignment with our "galactic core."

Not wanting to miss out, I gazed up into the heavens, listening to Lemmy sing "The Watcher." Nothing quite like a bit of early '70s space rock, I always think.

But regardless of the implausibility of Brock, Kilminster et al leaving earth on a spaceship, some think that the eclipse has great spiritual significance. Such as the goddess worshiping witch, Starhawk, who thinks the eclipse/solstice/galactic alignment has powerful magic potential.

"For those of you who like to align your meditations and your magic with the movements of the stars, we stand tonight between the past and the future. For the first hour and a quarter of the eclipse...it's as if we step out of time. We are free of the past, and we can consciously create the future, for ourselves, for our communities, for the earth," said the Wiccan priestess witch to abc News.

Here's a picture of Starhawk.

Starhawk on right, with woman

And here's the witch channeling the Star Goddess:

The Charge of the Star Goddess

Hear the words of the Star Goddess, the dust of whose feet are the hosts of heaven, whose body encircles the universe ...

"I who am the beauty of the green Earth,
The white Moon among the Stars,
And the Mystery of the Waters,
I call upon your soul to arise and come unto Me.
For I am the Soul of Nature, which gives life to the universe.

From Me all things proceed,
And unto Me they must return.
Let My worship be in the heart that rejoices,
For behold - all acts of love and pleasure are My rituals...

For behold, I have been with you from the beginning,
And I am that which is attained at the end of desire."

Pagan Tomfoolery

"All acts of love and pleasure are My rituals." Terrifyin' prospect.

This site continues to stand against paganism and goddess worship, in case you wondered.

God bless,

LSP